24/08/2026
📚 So what actually is Book Week?
It's easy to think of it as the week we all panic about costumes. But there's a lot more to it than that.
Children's Book Week is run by the Children's Book Council of Australia, and it's the country's biggest celebration of reading. This year is a milestone one - the CBCA Book of the Year Awards turn 80, meaning eight decades of putting Australian children's books into Australian children's hands.
The 2026 theme is "Symphony of Stories", with artwork by illustrator Briony Stewart. The idea behind it is lovely: a symphony is lots of different parts coming together into something whole - which is a pretty good description of a book, and an even better one of a school full of readers.
And that's really the point of the week. Not the costumes, but everything around them the classroom displays, the read-alouds, the kids arguing about which book is better. Research is unglamorous but clear on this: children who read for pleasure do better at school, and the single biggest predictor is whether reading is treated as something enjoyable rather than something assigned.
So this week, if you do one thing, read something together. It doesn't have to be long or worthy. Ten minutes and a book they chose themselves counts.
🎭 Dress Up Parade is Friday 28 August.
